Art collection questioned

KERRY O'BRIEN: One of Australia's biggest, and some would say finest, collections of modern art is under siege.

It's never been seen by the public and is now the subject of a bitter struggle by those privileged enough to have access to it - the members and senators of Parliament House, Canberra.

The collection is displayed in MPs offices, along the private corridors and in the courtyards.

But some parliamentarians don't like modern art and would prefer landscapes or pictures of our founding fathers.

Jeremy Thompson reports.

JEREMY THOMPSON: It's one of the nation's great collections of modern art - paintings and sculptures purchased from young or emerging artists to adorn the walls and courtyards of Australia's modern Parliament House.

But if this man has his way, that's all about to change.

ROSS CAMERON, PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY: It's the meaning of it that speaks to me, it's a reminder to me to act decisively, to be bold, to venture out into the unknown.

JEREMY THOMPSON: And this self-confessed Philistine is doing just that.

Ross Cameron, Liberal member for Parramatta, stands out from the grey-suited crowd in Parliament.

For a start, he's a singer.

And unlike George W Bush, he knows where the leader of Al Qaeda is hiding out.

ROSS CAMERON: Today, in the mountains of West Pakistan Osama bin Laden is stroking his beard and celebrating the advent of Mark Latham.

JEREMY THOMPSON: Aside from all that, the multifaceted Mr Cameron has had one particular bee in his bonnet since he was elected in 1996 - the parliamentary art collection.

When elected, MPs are allowed to choose artworks from the collection for their offices, but the ministers always snaffle the best.

What Ross Cameron was offered he didn't like, so he chose one of his own photographs instead.

ROSS CAMERON: Working in this air conditioned sort of cement-rendered edifice all day, breathing air conditioned air, to see a vista of the Snowy River lifts my spirits.

JEREMY THOMPSON: Mr Cameron doesn't like most modern art.

He's led an eight year crusade against Parliament's collection, not only those in the offices, but those on the walls and in the courtyards.

ROSS CAMERON: This is one of the two works that every member of the Government sees before they walk into the joint party room to consider the aspirations of the Australian people - a grey stripe between two white stripes.

I'm not saying, "I hate it".

I'm just saying it's a wasted opportunity.

JEREMY THOMPSON: These pieces, since 1983, have increased in value from something in the order of $13 million for the whole collection to $80 million.

If nothing else, it's a very good investment, isn't it?

ROSS CAMERON: Well, I'd say, somebody else can have them hanging on their walls.

ALBY SCHULTZ, LIBERAL BACKBENCHER: What are you up to, Roscoe?

ROSS CAMERON: Well, what do you think of this, Alby?

ALBY SCHULTZ: That is appalling.

And as an old meatworker, I think I could do a better job than that, with a bit of masking paint and a spray gun.

In fact, judging by a recent survey, MPs opinions are evenly split between those who want change and those who don't.

The Democrats' Aden Ridgeway is in the latter camp.

SENATOR ADEN RIDGEWAY, AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS: I doubt whether Alby Schultz or Ross Cameron or anyone else could produce the same sort of artwork and certainly fetch the prices that some of these recognised artists are getting.

They might not like it, you know, but if they want to be spectators on the sidelines throwing criticism, that's fine, but recognise that we need to have a varied and vibrant collection.

This is part of the diversity of what Australian artists produce and we ought to be supporting them.

JEREMY THOMPSON: Ross Cameron has a particular aversion to this sculpture.

It's by acclaimed artist Ron Robertson-Swann and called The Quick Brown Fox.

RON ROBERTSON-SWANN, ARTIST AND SCULPTOR: I wanted the sculpture to have the possibility of starting there and running across the ground like a rabbit rather than a traditional piece of sculpture.

And it's like a sentence.

JEREMY THOMPSON: Hence, The Quick Brown Fox with its allusion to words and to movement.

But Mr Cameron is unmoved.

ROSS CAMERON: No title will change the fact that it is, you know, a few bits of steel welded together and painted brown.

RON ROBERTSON-SWANN: It's there for people's opinions.

And different people are going to have different opinions and that's how they develop.

The tragedy with people like this is that development is a bit of a struggle for them.

JEREMY THOMPSON: So what does Ross Cameron like?

He's a fan of the landscape for a start.

ROSS CAMERON: And it is just an authentically Australian landscape, and again with this attraction of being the vacant field out of which the national capital emerged.

JEREMY THOMPSON: What would you say to those people who'd say, "Well, this man doesn't like any modern art at all.

He's a bit of a Philistine."

ROSS CAMERON: Well, I'd be tempted to plead guilty.

JEREMY THOMPSON: Aden Ridgeway, too, likes the Penleigh Boyd landscape, but he's a bigger fan of the modern stuff, like this digital work by Patricia Piccanini.

She was an unknown when it was purchased, but she's now world famous.

SENATOR ADEN RIDGEWAY: This particular piece, if you look at the criteria that's now being proposed, would not make it into the Parliament House collection, mostly because when it was purchased it was bought for $1,500.

It's now valued at $160,000.

JEREMY THOMPSON: That's because the collection is funded entirely from the takings of the Parliament House souvenir shop, which brings in $100,000 a year.

Not enough for a Piccinini now, but plenty for works by emerging artists, who generally produce the sort of modern art Ross Cameron despises.

So where does that leave him and his demand for more traditional work?

ROSS CAMERON: Members and senators should have a choice of at least one work which is emblematic of a significant person, or moment, or place in their electorates.

JEREMY THOMPSON: Mr Cameron's lobbying resulted in a review by former National Gallery director Betty Churcher who, while defending the collection, agrees that MPs should have whatever appeals to them in their offices.

She says facsimile copies of superb Australian artworks are available cheaply and should be purchased for those who want it.

A victory perhaps for Ross Cameron, but deeply worrying for those who don't see him as a good arbiter of Parliament's art.

RON ROBERTSON-SWANN: No, he sounds to me like the perfect example of a Philistine.

And he should be the very last person.

It's like one of the those people when they don't understand something they've got to hit it on the head.

ROSS CAMERON: While I don't want to fill the place with pictures and statutes of old men in suits, I do think that we want to have a sense of honouring Australia's history, and sort of, from the shoulders of the giants we stand while we look to Australia's future.